


"All I wanted was for you to be happy."

by snowflakeimagines



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Jealous Sans (Undertale), Multi, One-Sided Attraction, Reader's gender is not specified, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 13:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18142661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowflakeimagines/pseuds/snowflakeimagines
Summary: You had fallen head over heels for Grillby.That wouldn’t have bothered Sans at all……if he hadn’t gone ahead and fallen for you.





	"All I wanted was for you to be happy."

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt fic requested by an anonymous follower. Find me on Tumblr at https://snowflakeimagines.tumblr.com!

You had fallen head over heels for Grillby.

That wouldn’t have bothered Sans at all…

…if he hadn’t gone ahead and fallen for you.

Whenever you talked about the flaming bartender, your eyes would soften and a shy smile would grace your lips. When Sans hung out with you, you’d always mention Grillby at least once, telling Sans about some new dish that he’d come up with or a drink he’d made for you. You practically had hearts in your eyes when you were talking about him. It reminded the skeleton of himself when he thought about you; and that only made him feel worse.  

Of course you’d fall for Grillby. Who wouldn’t? He was a perfect gentleman. Tall, polite, handsome, understanding, patient, calm… the list goes on and on. Sans was just a short, lazy skeleton. A nobody compared to Grillby. You were light years out of his league, but that didn’t stop his soul from pining for you.

He’d never stop loving you.

Never.

 

* * *

**backbone:**  wanna meet at Grillby’s for dinner? :P

 **You:**  k

And by _“k”_ , he meant “ _i really don’t want to because i’ll end up third-wheeling you and grillby again, but i don’t want you to suspect me so i’ll just go”_.

But he could never tell you that, could he?

Sans dragged himself out of his pity party to meet up with you in front of your house. The two of you walked to Grillby’s together, chatting about whatever came to mind. Sans savored it, knowing full well that it wouldn’t last for the whole night.

Sure enough, Sans found himself downing a bottle of alcoholic ketchup, watching sourly as you flirted with the monster behind the bar. He sorely wished that you’d taken that sort of attraction to him instead, but he didn’t have to look very deep inside himself to know that he didn’t deserve it. What would you see in a slob like him?

Sans was shaken out of his self-loathing when his phone rang loudly in his pocket. Normally, he’d take the call right then and there; he wasn’t bothered to leave his seat. But seeing as that was an excuse to get away from this torture, he was willing to go the extra step.

He slid off his chair and held his phone up. “sorry, gotta take this call. be right back.” He set off towards the glass doors, but was stopped when your hand shot out and grabbed his arm.  

You were staring at him with furrowed eyebrows. “Sans, you’ve been acting kinda weird tonight. Is everything okay?” you said, your tone filled with genuine concern. His soul twinged. God, why did you have to care so much?

_no, everything’s horrible and i don’t know why i agreed to come here and—_

“yeah, i’m good. don’t worry ‘bout me.”

Though your grip on him loosened, the expression on your face showed that you didn’t believe him in the slightest. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I’m always gonna be here for you.”

_i love you, i love you so much it hurts, i love you even though you’ll never love me back, i love you, i love you—_

“thanks,” he said instead, shrugging your hand off his arm. “i’ll, uh, keep that in mind. be back in a jiffy.”

Sans opened the doors and stepped out onto the pavement. He could still feel your eyes boring into the back of his skull, following him as he walked past the large windows at the storefront. He slipped into the closest alleyway. He took a deep breath, taking a moment to recollect himself.  Without checking the caller ID, he answered the call and held his phone up to his skull. “yello?”

“S-S-Sans? You took so l-long to answer… I was about to h-hang up…”

He leaned back against the brick wall. “sorry, al. got caught up with somethin’. whaddya need?”

 

* * *

“—and how’re the souls comin’ along?”

“They’re well on their way to unlocking their magic. W-We won’t be seeing drastic changes anytime soon, but it’s good progress n-nonetheless. Alison’s doing particularly well.”

“good, good. need me to come in next week?”

“If you could h-help out next Monday, that’d be great.”

“day after tomorrow? okay. anythin’ else?”

“N-no, that’s all. O-oh, I’m sorry for h-holding you up for s-so long…”

“‘s no big deal. ‘m thankful for the distraction. i’ll see ya monday.”

“See you.”

Sans hung up with a big grin. It was good progress indeed. He couldn’t wait to tell you about it. He took a shortcut back inside Grillby’s, landing in his seat perfectly. He turned to you with a proud smile, only to be met with a sight that made him freeze and his soul twist.

You and Grillby were in the midst of a gentle, intimate kiss, surrounded by the cheers and applause of everyone else in the restaurant. “Aren’t they adorable?” a rabbit monster said to him, watching the two of you pull away from each other with an affectionate grin. “Perfect for each other, aren’t they?”

It took a full four seconds for him to respond. His eyelights returned and he forced a lazy smile. “yeah. perfect.” Unable to watch any longer, he hurriedly hopped off his stool and gathered his magic. “see ya guys ‘round,” he mumbled, his words slurring together and tears already building in his eye sockets. His magic wrapped around him and in the blink of an eye, he was standing in the darkness of his bedroom.

No one seemed to have noticed his disappearance. He was glad for that. He didn’t want anyone seeing him in this pathetic state.

Sans collapsed on his bed and curled up next to his crumpled ball of bed-sheets. How did this happen so quickly? He knew you’d fallen for Grillby—he’d known that for a while now. It was only a matter of time before you confessed, but to actually see you kissing someone else hurt him more than he could’ve ever imagined.

He heaved a croaky sob. If he wasn’t such an incompetent coward, he could’ve made a move and maybe you’d be kissing him instead. If he wasn’t so pathetic, his soul wouldn’t be feeling like it’d been ripped out and trampled into the dirt like this.

You weren’t just a little crush to him. He wouldn’t be this torn up over you if you were. What he felt for you was a love that had blossomed from years of friendship, a quiet thumping in his soul that always seemed to get louder whenever you were near. He’d never felt this way with anyone else before; and that just made everything even worse.

He buried his face in his hands and cried.

 

* * *

Sans woke up feeling like shit and continued feeling like shit for the next few days. He stayed away from Grillby’s and its usual customers, knowing that they’d ask him why he hasn’t been visiting lately. He’d come up with some bullshit excuse later. For now, he’d rather avoid confrontation entirely.

True to his word, Sans showed up at the lab on Monday; though his state was of no use to their project. He was unresponsive and weary, unable to do much more than lay his head on his desk and stew in self-hatred. He was utterly heartbroken. Alphys had sent him home at lunch with a packet of instant ramen and a note with “Get well soon! =^-^=” written on it.

_if only she knew._

He’d responded to your worried texts with short “im fine”s or “its nothing”s. You’d reminded him again that you were always there if he needed to talk to someone. He’d sent a thumbs-up emoji in response. Soon after that, your newfound relationship with Grillby came into the admittedly one-sided (just like his love for you) conversation. Sans didn’t know how to respond to that.

 _“i’m happy for you”_ was a complete and blatant lie. He’d feel too bitter sending that one.

 _“best wishes”_ sounded too formal. Not like him at all. Besides, he’d be lying if he said that the thought of you leaving Grillby for him hadn’t crossed his mind. He knew that it was extremely selfish of him, but he couldn’t help it.

 _“i should be happy for you but now im a sad jealous mess and i know ill never be better than grillby but it still hurts so fucking much”_  was… out of the question.

Finally, he settled on a simple “ _congrats”_. It was vague and curt and just barely masked his bitterness, but it seemed to be enough to satisfy you.

Though he was insanely envious of Grillby, he knew that he had no right to be angry at him. You were never his to begin with, and Sans genuinely cared about both of you. He’s hurt you on multiple occasions before, with all his secrets and hiding. Grillby would never do that to you.

He could only blame himself for not being good enough for you.

 

* * *

Sans was out for a walk in the park. Despite wanting nothing more than to lie on his couch and drown his sorrows with ketchup, he knew that some fresh air would do him good. It was a beautiful day outside, after all. Golden rays of sunshine warmed his bones as he passed a bush of crimson roses. The air was fresh and crisp, laced with the gentle smell of sweet flowers. It would’ve been a perfect day, had his soul just stopped aching for once.

The universe, looking to fuck Sans up in the worst ways possible, decided to pour a nice gallon of lemon juice into his gaping wound by rubbing your unrequited love in his face.

He spotted you before you noticed him. You were arm in arm with Grillby, telling him something Sans couldn’t hear with a smile that matched the brightness of your soul. You tore your loving gaze away from Grillby for a second and immediately locked eyes with Sans. You nudged your boyfriend and pointed at him. Both of you waved at him enthusiastically.

Sans’ mood lifted ever so slightly. A smile came to him, soft and sad but it was a smile nonetheless. He raised his hand in a weak wave. You didn’t seem to notice the heartache he hid behind his grin, for you soon turned your eyes away from him and back to your lover. He watched the two of you walk down the winding path and disappear behind a cluster of trees.

He continued his walk, his slippered feet shuffling across the concrete road. That small smile stayed on his face, even as tears began falling from his eye-sockets.

He was still in love with you. He didn’t know how long it’d take for him to move on. Maybe he never would.

You would never love him back.

He could learn to live with that.

All Sans wanted was for you to be happy, anyway.


End file.
